Controlling a user interface of a computer device

ABSTRACT

A computer device has a user interface configured to present to a user a selected one of a plurality of game levels. Each game level is associated with a set of rules which control the display of game outcomes. A pre-level screen is displayed to the user comprising selectable objects, each of which is associated with a set of rule modifications. The user selects one of the selectable objects. The set of rules associated with the game level is modified according to the rule modifications associated with the selected selectable object. The level is presented to the user for interaction according to the modified set of rules. A corresponding method and computer program is provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to controlling a user interfaceresponsive to user engagement with displayed elements on the interfaceof a computer device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are multiple technical challenges facing the designer ofcomputer-implemented games to create a fun and compelling game. Oneparticular challenge is that of engagement.

Engagement involves designing gameplay to be engaging and rewarding toplayers. This typically requires games to be easily understood at theirsimplest or introductory levels, providing rewarding gameplay with quitesimple game mechanics, but becoming progressively more challenging sothat players are not bored, but remain engaged and develop rewardingskills. Effective engagement requires various forms of feedback toreinforce players' sense of success and accomplishment.

One technical area where there are particular challenges in controllingthe display of a computer device is in the design ofcomputer-implemented games. Not only is there a requirement to createfun and compelling games, these games need to be delivered to a playerin a seamless and engaging fashion, while adhering to complex gamerules.

Games have been developed in which a user engages game elements in aboard to achieve certain objectives, by causing game elements to beremoved in a strategic fashion.

A ‘clicker game’ is a type of casual puzzle game where the player isrequired to find patterns on a seemingly chaotic board. The player thenhas to match two or more of the same type of game element on the gameboard and those matched elements will then be removed from the board.The player matches adjacent game elements of the same type by selectingone or more of the game elements in the group of matching elements.

A ‘switcher game’ is also a type of casual puzzle game where the playeris required to find patterns on a seemingly chaotic board. In a switchergame, the player switches the locations of two adjacent game elements onthe game board so that one or both of them create a chain of at leastthree adjacent game elements of the same type. Those matched gameelements will then be removed from the gameboard. The gameboard is thenrepopulated with game objects.

A ‘bubble shooter game’ is also a type of casual puzzle game where theplayer is required to find patterns on a seemingly chaotic board. Thegame provides a static bubble graph in the game board on a display of acomputer device. The game objective is to remove bubbles to clear theway through the graph, and to do this the player operates a playerobject launcher that can shoot player objects into the game board. Whenthe launched player object reaches an object in the player graph, it“sticks” to it. If it hits a game object of the same type as the playerobject, which already has another game object of the same characteristicadjacent to it, a 3-match condition is created and the three gameobjects disappear from the game board. A match could have more thanthree game objects in it. A match can be associated with a certainscore.

A challenge that faces manufacturers of such games is that ofdevelopments time to devise even more game levels to keep a playerengaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to increase involvement in such games, the present inventorshave devised an improved computer device having a user interface whichis controlled to display to a user. In the following embodiments, thedevice is configured to provide a computer-implemented game of amatching type (clicker, switcher, or linker), in which the user canmodify the game mechanics of the level he is about to play, but withoutaltering the initial layout and tile attributes of the level. Differentmodes of the same level can be played, thereby increasing userengagement without increasing development time. Before starting a level,a user is able to decide which mode of play he would like to participatein. The mode of play determines the mechanics of the game. This allowsthe user to strategically choose the mode of play for each level to bestsuit his strengths and the layout and goals of the level. The user maychoose to re-play the same level in a different mode, such that thelevel data remains constant but the rules for that attempt of the levelare modified.

According to a first aspect disclosed herein, there is provided acomputer device having: a user interface configured to present to a usera selected one of a plurality of game levels, each game level comprisinga plurality of tiles in a tile layout, each tile having a game attributedefined by the game level, and at least some of the tiles havingdisplayed thereon user actuatable game elements with which the user caninteract, the user interface being configured to detect user input whena user engages with at least one of said user actuatable game elements;wherein each of the plurality of game levels is associated with a set ofrules which control the display of game outcomes on the user interface;and a processor configured to present to a user on the user interfaceprior to the selected game level a pre-level screen which comprises aplurality of selectable objects; detect selection of one of theselectable objects; access a set of rule modifications associated withthe selected object for modifying the set of rules associated with thatgame level, without modifying the layout of tiles or game attributes ofthe tiles; and present the game level to the user for interactionaccording to the modified set of rules.

In an example, the user actuatable game elements have differentcharacteristics, and, when a match game condition is detected, matchinggame elements are removed and replaced by a random refill procedure.

In an example, the set of rules defines a number of game moves withinwhich a game objective for the level is to be attained to be displayedas a game outcome.

In that example, the set of rule modifications may define a period oftime, corresponding to the number of game moves, within which theobjective is to be attained to be displayed as the game outcome.

In an example, the set of rule modifications provides a swap object,which when activated swaps the moves remaining for time remaining whilstin a game play display.

In an example, the set of rules presents to the user a power bar whichdisplays as a game outcome a charge level based on consecutive matches.

In that example, the set of rule modifications may cause the power barto be charged only with consecutive matches of the same type, the powerbar becoming full after a predefined number of consecutive matches ofthe same type.

In an example, when the power bar is full it is rendered as selectableby a user, and when selected, any game elements of a common type areremoved from the game board.

In an example, the power bar is emptied after reaching a charge levelafter one or more matches of the same type prior to reaching saidpredefined number if a next match is of a different type of gameelements.

In an example, the set of rule modifications causes a reserve useractuatable game element to be displayed to a user, said reserve gameelement being located outside the layout of tiles, wherein the user canselect one of the user actuatable game elements on the layout and swapsaid selected user actuatable game element with the reserve game elementto provide as a game outcome an altered gameboard.

In an example, the game level presented to the user according to the setof modified rules presents a user selectable shuffle option whichrearranges the positions of the at least some user actuatable gameelements on the layout to provide an altered game element arrangement asa game outcome.

In that example, the computer device may be configured to enable theshuffle option for selection only every n game moves, wherein the set ofrules defines a number of game moves within which an objective is to beattained.

In an example, the layout is an m by n array of rows and columns and theset of rules controls the operation of a special user actuatable gameelement, such that when the special game element is part of a match gamecondition, a game outcome is such that a row or column of game elementsis removed from the board.

In that example, the set of rule modifications may control operation ofthe special user actuatable game element, such that, when the specialuser actuatable game element is part of a match game condition, itcauses multiple rows or columns to be removed, and at least one columnor row respectively.

In an example, the layout is an m by n array, and game elements areswitchable in their row or column, a match game condition being detectedwhen adjacent game elements arranged in rows or columns are of the sametype.

In that example, the set of rule modifications may enable diagonalswitching of game elements of the gameboard.

In an example, the layout is an n by m array.

In an example, m=n.

In an example, the game attributes of the tiles comprise user actuatablegame elements, blockers, and pre-designated special game elements.

In different embodiments, the set of rules define either: a switchermechanic; a clicker mechanic; or a linker mechanic.

According to a second aspect disclosed herein, there is provided amethod comprising: presenting to a user a selected one of a plurality ofgame levels, each game level comprising a plurality of tiles in a tilelayout, each tile having a game attribute defined by the game level, andat least some of the tiles having displayed thereon user actuatable gameelements with which the user can interact, wherein each of the pluralityof game levels is associated with a set of rules which control thedisplay of game outcomes; presenting to the user, prior to the selectedgame level, a pre-level screen which comprises a plurality of selectableobjects; detecting selection of one of the selectable objects; accessinga set of rule modifications associated with the selected object formodifying the set of rules associated with that game level, withoutmodifying the layout of tiles or game attributes of the tiles; andpresenting the game level to the user for interaction according to themodified set of rules.

The selectable objects may, by way of non-limiting example, be buttonsor cards. Other selectable objects may be envisaged.

In an example, the method comprises presenting the game levels on a userinterface, the user interface being configured to detect user input whena user engages with at least one of said user actuatable game elements.

According to a third aspect disclosed herein, there is provided acomputer program product comprising transitory or non-transitorycomputer-executable code configured so as when executed by one or moreprocessing units to perform the steps of the method according to thesecond aspect. Non transitory code may be stored on a computer readablemedium.

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how thesame may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way ofexample to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an environment forplaying a game;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a user device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a refill process;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating sets in a grid;

FIG. 5 shows a game play display of a switcher mechanic game;

FIG. 6 shows a Saga Map;

FIG. 7 shows a pre-level display;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of a system for generating amodified level;

FIG. 9 shows a method for generating a modified level;

FIG. 10 shows a ‘Reserve’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIG. 11 shows a ‘Timed’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIGS. 12A-12B show a ‘Diagonal’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIGS. 13A-13C show a ‘Shuffle’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIGS. 14A-14E show an ‘Explosive’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIGS. 15A-15E show a ‘Streak’ game mode option gameplay display;

FIG. 16 shows an example pre-level screen from which the user can selecta RightOps card to implement in the level;

FIG. 17 shows an example of a display from which the user can select theRightOps cards for his card deck;

FIG. 18 shows an example pre-level screen after the user has selected aRightOps card;

FIG. 19 shows an example pre-level screen displaying information aboutthe user selected RightOps card;

FIG. 20 shows a post-level screen displayed after the user has played alevel in which a RightOps was implemented; and

FIG. 21 shows a view of the functional components of the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure describes a technique for allowing users of agame to modify the rules of the game level they are playing. The playeris able to select a type of game play from a pre-determined list of gameplay types, also referred to as game mode options, each typecorresponding to different game rules. The base game mechanic may be a‘clicker’, ‘switcher’, or ‘bubble shooter’, where the user can causegame elements of a matching type to be removed from the board bystrategic selection. Different game rule modifications may be selectedby the user to be applied in conjunction with the base game mechanic.

The terms user and player are used interchangeably throughout thisdocument and no specific meaning is intended using one or the otherunless the context suggests otherwise.

In the following description of various implementations of theinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which formpart thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration variousimplementations in which the invention may be utilized. It is to beunderstood that the other implementations may be utilized, andstructural and functional modifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

The techniques described herein can be deployed in many differentgameplay architectures. For example, a computer game can be implementedas a computer program that is stored and runs entirely locally on theprocessor of a PC, games console, tablet or mobile telephone or othercomputing device. The game can be implemented solely as a computerprogram that is stored and runs entirely on one of many processors in aremote server, and data streams or updates are supplied to the clientdevice (e.g. tablet, smartphone, etc.) to enable the client to renderand display graphics and sounds; this ‘web services’ approach isincreasingly common.

Another possible infrastructure is a hybrid one, in which back-endservers handle some elements of the gameplay, and for instance a Javagame applet is provided to client devices and it is the locally runningJava applet that generates the graphics/sounds/user interaction forgameplay on the player's client device. Some data may be fed back to theback-end servers to enable scoring, interaction with other players andcross-platform synchronisation. Generally, the techniques described inthis specification are not specific to any one game architecture but canbe deployed on any suitable game architecture.

In implementations where some or all elements of gameplay are executedon a remote server, users may be able to share their gaming experienceswith other users. They may, for example, be able to share the scoresthey have achieved in a level with other players, which may be used togenerate a leader board. Users may be able to choose which other usersto share their scores with, for example their friends on a social mediaplatform such as Facebook. This gives a social aspect to the game.

FIG. 1 portrays an exemplary overall environment in which the presentinvention can be utilized. A virtual game is stored on for instance agame server 205. The virtual game is to be played on a client device240, such as a computer 235, 225 or a smartphone or other handhelddevice 230. The client device 240 can also be a kiosk, arcade gamingstation, smart TV or other device with computing capabilities, inputdevices and a screen that can present the game to a user. The clientdevice communicates with the game server 205 and a social network server115, for instance through the Internet 250 or other network. It shouldbe understood that the social network server 215 and the game server 205do not have to be located in different places, they could be on the sameserver or on a plurality of servers located in different locations.People skilled in the art will understand that other devices than theexemplary ones listed can also be used without departing from the scopeof the invention.

The game can be implemented allowing a user to interact with it indifferent ways depending on the capabilities of the client device 240which the user is accessing the game with. A user can interact with thegame through using a touch screen where the user can select and/or moveelements on the game board with a finger or for instance with a stylus.The game can also be played with a pointing device such as a mouse orother interaction devices such as keyboard.

Mobile devices may have a touch screen interface where the player caninteract with the game using a finger or a pointing device such as astylus. Some mobile devices have hard keys that complement the touchscreen interface. Such hard keys may be in the form of a button or inthe form of a joystick type of interaction.

A schematic view of the user or computing device 240 according to anembodiment is shown in FIG. 2. The user device has a controller 1302.The controller 1302 may have one or more processors 1304 and one or morememories 1306. The controller 1302 is also shown as having a graphicscontroller 1308 and a sound controller 1310. It should be appreciatedthat one or other or both of the graphics controller 1308 and soundcontroller 1310 may be provided by the one or more processors 1304.Other functional blocks may also be implemented by suitable circuitry orcomputer code executed by the one or more processor 1304.

The graphics controller 1308 is configured to provide a video output1312. The sound controller 1310 is configured to provide an audio output1314. The controller 1302 has a network interface 1316 allowing thedevice to be able to communicate with a network such as the Internet 250or other communication infrastructure.

The video output 1312 may be provided to a display 1318. The audiooutput 1314 may be provided to an audio device 1320 such as a speakerand/or earphones(s).

The device 240 may have an input device 1322. The input device 1322 cantake any suitable format such as one or more of a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, joystick or game controller. It should be appreciated that thedisplay 1318 may in some embodiments also provide the input device 1322,for example, by way of an integrated touch screen.

The blocks of the controller 1302 are configured to communicate witheach other via an interconnect such as a bus or any other suitableinterconnect and/or by point to point communication.

It should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the controller 1302may be implemented by one or more circuits, at least in part.

It should be appreciated that embodiments may be deployed in differentsystem architectures. For example, the computer game may be implementedas a computer game that is stored in the memory 1306 of the user device240. However, when online, the server 205 may handle some elements ofthe game in some embodiments. By way of example only, a Java game appletmay be provided to the user device 240 and the locally running Javaapplet will generate, for example, the graphics, sounds, and userinteraction for the game play on the user device 240. Java applet canhave sufficient information to allow offline play when the user deviceis no longer in communication with the game server 205, e.g. ifconnectivity is lost.

In some embodiments, the game may be implemented as a computer programthat is stored in a memory system, for example the server 205, and whichruns on the processor of the game server. Data streams or updates aresupplied to the user device 240 to allow the user device 240 to renderand display graphics and sounds in a browser of the user device 240.

FIG. 3 is a highly schematic block diagram illustrating how gameboardsare rendered visible to the user through a random refill process. Therandom refill process is pseudorandom. Each game level has an initialgameboard which is a layout of tiles, each tile having a tile attributein the initial layout. FIG. 3 shows a tile layout in the form of a grid80. This tile grid 80 shows an array of tiles arranged in rows andcolumns. In order to render a game board on a display, each tile isassociated with a block to be rendered at that tile location. The natureof the block is determined by the tile attribute. The grid 80 isorganised in sets S0 to S6. In this embodiment, each set represents acolumn of tiles in the array. However, sets may be organised in anyappropriate manner. For example, they could be organised in rows orgrids of tiles.

Shown in the tile grid 80 are three tiles T100, T200 and T300 whichrepresent tiles where blocks may need to be spawned in play. Replacementblocks are spawned in tiles that have an attribute associating them withplayable (user interactable) blocks. A new block is spawned into effectat an entry point of the set. For convenience, the endmost tile (in thiscase T100) can be considered the entry point for S6. However, any entrypoint for a set can be defined, and the precise entry point may dependon the orientation or shape of the set. Blocks are spawned into sets attheir respective entry points. If the tile below the entry point isvacant, the spawned block is moved down to that tile and then a furtherblock is spawned above it at the entry point. Note that sets may be ofdifferent configurations and spawned blocks may be moved to vacant tilesaccording to different physics.

The game includes block generation logic 2506 which comprises aplurality of deterministic game element generating algorithms labelledG0 to G6. Each set is associated with a respective game elementgenerating algorithm which spawns the new game element in adeterministic manner for its associated set. Game logic 2504 receives atile identifier indicating a tile into which a block is to be spawned.That is, the tile identifier indicates the set in which the tilebelongs, and enables the entry point of the set to be indicated. Thistile identifier enables the appropriate algorithm to be activated, and ablock identifier is generated by that algorithm to a renderer 2512 whichcontrols a display 1318 on which the game board is presented to causethat block to be inserted at the entry point. Within each set theprocess may be entirely deterministic. That is, blocks are provided in apredetermined sequence into the set, and moved through the set in apredetermined way. That sequence may be the same for all sets, or eachset may have a different sequence. Alternatively, the blocks may bespawned in a random sequence. Randomly spawned blocks will still movethrough the set in a predetermined way, as dictated by the game physics.

Each generator G0 to G6 can be controlled with a respective seed whichthen causes a pseudo-random sequence of blocks to be generated based onthat seed.

As mentioned, sets may take any form. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagramshowing sets having a different configuration than rows and columns, asin FIG. 3. FIG. 4 shows 16 tiles of a grid, organised into four sets S'0, S '1, S '2 and S '3. Each set comprises four tiles arranged in agrid. The arrows A0, A3, denote the physics within each group. In theset S '0, the top left-hand tile is the entry point of the set. Newblocks are spawned here. If when the new block is spawned the tileimmediately to the right of it is vacant, the spawned block will moveinto that tile, and a new block will be spawned into the entry point.Blocks are shown three-dimensionally to indicate that they are differentfrom tiles. Thus, in the set S '0 one can consider a clockwise physics.In set S '3, the arrow A3 moves in an anticlockwise direction denotingan anti-clockwise refill physics. Any refill physics is possible. Notethat it is not necessary that the tile into which a spawned block movesafter spawning at the entry point tile is adjacently the entry pointtile. It could be diagonally away from it or in some other locationwithin the set.

The gameboard 100 used in gameplay is defined by the tile grid 80. Atile is a location which may support a block or have another qualitye.g. a hole or blocker. Each tile has its own unique name associatedwith it. Data about the game elements occupying each tile of the gridare stored in association with the name, or ID, of the tile. This datamay be stored in, for example, a tile database. When blocks are removedfrom the tile grid 80, tile refill occurs and the blocks located at thetiles affected by the refill process change. The data stored in the tiledatabase is updated to represent the locations of elements on the grid80 after refill.

Holes in the grid show a background and are not valid game board areas.That is, there are no tiles at the locations of the holes.Alternatively, there may be tiles at the locations of the holes in thegrid 80, but the attribute of these tiles may be holes, and theirattribute remains unchanged through game play. Blocks cannot occupyholes in the gameboard, but, in some embodiments, blocks can fallthrough them. The shape of the grid may vary.

The following describes an implementation using a ‘switcher’ mechanicwhere groups of 3 or more matching objects (referred to in this documentas blocks or game elements) are created when a user switches twoadjacent blocks and automatically removed. FIG. 5 shows an example of agame play display 108 of a switcher game. A gameboard 100 correspondingto grid 80 is filled with blocks or objects of different shapes andcolours. There is a pair of matching adjacent pear drops 102. The usercan select the square element 106 and pear drop element 104 in order toswitch their respective tile locations on the gameboard 100. This thencreates a group of 3 matching adjacent pear drops which are subsequentlyremoved from the gameboard 100.

After the matching adjacent pear drops are removed, the tiles in whichthey were located are rendered empty. The blocks occupying the tilesabove the now empty tiles fall downwards to fill the empty tiles asdetermined by the game physics. New blocks are spawned at the tilelocations at the top of these three columns, corresponding to the entrypoints of the sets, so that refillable tiles on the gameboard 100 arefilled.

Whether the colour and/or shape characteristics of adjacent blocks matchis determined by a match check. This check may be carried out for thewhole gameboard 100 where there are blocks. All blocks on the game boardare match checked against the blocks immediately adjacent to them.Alternatively, only some blocks on the gameboard are match checked. Theblocks to be match checked may be determined by the location of userinteraction with the gameboard, and/or the location of recent tileactivity such as block removal or block refill. When multiple blocks aredetected to have matching characteristics, a group of blocks is formedsuch that even blocks which are not directly adjacent to each other areincluded in the same group as long as they are connected in an adjacentmanner via other blocks which also possess the same matchingcharacteristic. In some embodiments, these groups of matching adjacentblocks may have to all be connected in one direction, i.e. they may haveto be either vertically or horizontally connected. The match check isimplemented after the player selects the two blocks to switch tilelocations.

The following sections will refer to a game with a switcher mechanic.The ideas explained may also be implemented for games with othermechanics.

To exemplify the invention, one particular game will now be described.It will be evident that the features described herein may be applied inmany different games.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a Saga Map 200 presented to the user on thedisplay of his client device 240.

On the Saga Map 200, the user is presented with a path of levels, eachlevel having a level icon 218. The player must complete a level for thenext level on the path to become playable. The levels may becomeprogressively more challenging as the player travels along the path.When a level is playable, the level icon 218 shows the level number.

The user selects one of the activated level icons 218 to access thelevel. He may first be presented with the pre-level screen 300, anexample of which is shown in FIG. 7. The level the player has selectedto play is indicated. A target 302 is presented to the player. In thisexample, the target 302 is the number of points the player must achieveto pass the level. There may be other additional goals the for theplayer to achieve in order to pass a level, which are presented to theplayer on the game play display 108.

A leader board 306 displays opponent icons 216 of the three highestscores of the level so far, as well as the scores they achieved. Theopponents shown may be from the group of friends the user has connectedwith, or they may be from a list of all players who have, for example,synced their scores with the external server, even if they are notconnected with the player.

The player is presented with game mode options in the form of selectableobjects 304. In this example, seven different game mode options 304 arepresented to the user for him to choose from. Each of the game modeoptions 304 presents the user with different game rules for the level heis about the play. The gameboard 100 and goals the user has to achievein order to complete the level are the same irrespective of the gamemode options 304 the user chooses.

Allowing the user to choose the game mode option in which he plays thelevel allows the user to play more strategically. He may find, forexample, that he scores more highly in when implementing some game modeoptions than others, so may wish to choose a game mode option 304 whichplays to his strengths.

A goal indicator 308, here positioned adjacent to the ‘Regular’ modeoption button, shows the user the type of goal he will be presented within the level he is about to play. The appearance of the goal indicator308 indicates the type of goal the player has to achieve in the level,such that different types of goals have visually different goalindicators 308. The type of goal may be, for example, collecting aparticular type of displayed item, e.g. acorns, at the bottom of thegameboard, spreading ‘jam’ (a type of attained background appearance inthe tiles) on the gameboard, or removing a pre-defined number of blocksfrom the gameboard. By giving the user this information before heattempts the level, the user can strategically choose the game modeoption 304 which he wishes to play the level in. For example, the usermay achieve the goal of collecting items at the bottom of the gameboard100 more easily when playing in the ‘Explosive’ game mode option.

Game mode options are associated with rule modifications which modifythe ‘normal’ rules associated with that level.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating a process forgenerating a modified level, and a method for achieving this is shown inFIG. 9.

At step S1202, the user selects the level he wishes to play from theSaga Map 200 as shown in FIG. 6. A level detector 320 detects whichlevel the user has requested to play, and accesses a level database 350at step S1204.

The level database 350 stores information about the different levels ofthe game. A layout 354 and rules 356 are stored in association with alevel number 352, corresponding to the number assigned to the level icon218 on the Saga Map 200.

The level layout 354 defines the grid 80. It defines the number of tilesin the grid 80, the outline of the grid 80, and the attributes of tileswithin the grid 80. The level layout 354 and game attributes of theinitial gameboard are the same irrespective of the game mode option,also referred to as a rune, chosen by the player.

The level defines an initial game attribute for each of the tiles of thegameboard 100 when the level starts. The game attribute is thecharacteristics of game element occupying the tile, that is, whether thetile is occupied by a blocker, booster, or candy, or is unoccupied.Although the game attributes of each tile may change during gameplay,the level layout 354 defines the initial game attributes, such that thegame attributes are the same every time the user starts the same level.For example, the level layout 354 may define that there are 2 blockerson the gameboard 100 when the level starts, and the rest of the tiles onthe gameboard 100 are filled with candies (switchable game elementswhich the player is trying to match). The tiles in which the blockersand candies are located may also be defined. In some embodiments,initial game attributes may only be defined for some of the tiles on thegameboard. For example, the game attributes of tiles which are to beoccupied by blockers at the beginning of the level may be defined, butthe other tiles on the gameboard may not have a defined initial gameattribute such that the tiles may be randomly or pseudo-randomly filledwith any other game elements, such as candies and boosters. The initialgame attributes for tiles containing other types of special gameelements may also be defined. After the gameboard 100 has been set up,as defined by the level layout 354, the rules 356 are implemented. Theseed(s) which is used for block refill may be defined by the levellayout 354.

The rules 356 define the goal(s) and target of the level and the numberof moves the player is allowed to complete the level in. The rules 356control the display of game outcomes, such as which tile locationselements can be switched between and the functions of differentboosters.

The layout 354 and rules 356 associated with the level 352 which theuser has selected are retrieved from the level database 350 at stepsS1206 and S1208 respectively. The layout 354 is passed to the levelgenerator 316. The rules 356 are passed to the rule modifier 314.

Once the user has selected the level he wishes to play from the Saga Map200 at step S1202, he is presented with the pre-level screen 300, asshown in FIG. 7. The user selects a rune 304, also referred to as a gamemode option, from the pre-defined set of options at step S1210. Hisselection is detected by a rune detector 318. The rune detectoridentifies a rune identifier 362 associated with the selected rune 304on the pre-level screen, and uses the rune identifier 362 to access datastored in a rune database 360 at step S1212.

In the rune database 360, a rule modification 364 is stored inassociation with the rune identifier 362. The rule modification 364defines the way in which the selected rune 362 modifies the game rules.The rule modification 364 does not affect the fundamentals of the level,that is the layout 354 and initial tile attribute are unaffected by therule modification 354. In some embodiments, the rune identifier 362 isstored in association with a set of rule modifications, such that therule modifications, when implemented, alter more than one of the gamelevel rules.

In an alternative embodiment, the rune identifier 362 is stored inassociation with a set of modified rules. These rules are accessed fromthe rune database 360 and passed to the level generator 316 to be usedas the rules of the level. This set of modified rules may be an entireset or rules, such that they replace the level rules 356 in theirentirety.

Using the identified rune identifier 362, the rule modification 364stored in association with said rune identifier 362 is retrieved fromthe rune database 360 at step S1214.

The rule modification 364 is sent to the rule modifier 314. The levelrules 356 are combined with the rule modification 364 at the rulemodifier 314 to generate a set of modified rules 324 at step S1216. Thelevel rules 356 and rule modifications 364 are combined in such a waythat all rules defined in level rules 356 are used, except those whichrelate to the rules defined by the rule modifications 364. The rulesdefined by rule modifications 364 supersede the corresponding rules asdefined by the level rules 356. For example, the level rules 365 maydefine that a line blast booster removes all elements from the gameboard100 in its row when activated. The rule modifications 364 may define adifferent characteristic of a line blast booster, for example that itremoves all elements in both the row and column in which it lies. Thus,the characteristics of the line blast booster as defined by the rulemodifications 356 would be used in the set of modified rules 324.

The modified rules 324 are then passed to the level generator 316, whichuses the modified rules 324 and the layout 354 to generate the modifiedlevel 322 at step S1218. The modified level 322 is then displayed on thedisplay of the client device 240 at step S1220.

It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the steps ofthe method shown in FIG. 9 may be performed in a different order. Forexample, it is shown that data is accessed from the level database 350,step S1204, simultaneously to the user selecting a rune 304, step S1210,the rune database 360 being accessed, step S1212. However, inalternative embodiments, these two branches of the method may beperformed in series. For example, the user may only select the rune 304after the layout 354 and rules 356 have been retrieved and sent to thelevel generator 316 and rule modifier 314 respectively.

This process is repeated every time the player wishes to play a level.That is, the player selects a game mode option 304 from the pre-leveldisplay 300 before playing a level regardless of whether he has returnedto the Saga Map 200 or not. For example, if a player fails to complete alevel, he has the option to retry the level rather than returning to theSaga Map 200. He is then presented with the pre-level display 300 fromwhich he chooses a game mode option 304 to play the level in again. Thatis, the game mode option 304 does not stay selected once the level hasfinished, whether that be when the player runs out of moves or time, orwhen the player completes the level. By allowing the user to change thegame mode 362 if he fails a level, the user can choose a game modeoption 304 which he believes is better suited to the level havingattempted it. The user cannot change the game mode option 304 once thelevel has started.

In some embodiments, the game mode option 304 selected by the user staysselected when he progresses to the next level or replays his currentlevel. This removes the rune selection step, S1210, from the examplemethod of FIG. 9. This may also remove the steps of accessing thedatabase, S1212, and retrieving the rule modifications, S1214, if therule modifications associated with the selected rune are stored locally.

In some embodiments, the user may choose to play the selected levelwithout modifying the level rules. This may be through an activeselection of a game mode option 304 indicating that no rulemodifications are desired, such as the ‘Regular’ game mode option shownin FIG. 7. Alternatively, the user may choose to play without any rulemodification by not selecting a rule modifying rune 304. If the userchooses to play the level without modifying the game level rules, thesteps of accessing the database, S1212, and retrieving the rulemodification, S1214, may be removed from the method of FIG. 9. In someembodiment, the database may still be accessed, but the rune identifier362 associated with the ‘Regular’ game mode option 304 may not beassociated with any rule modification 364, such that the level rulesremain unmodified.

FIG. 7 shows seven example game mode options. Each of these options maybe associated with one or more different rules modifications 364 asexplained above. The generated modified rules 324 determine the gameoutcome for each of the selected runes. It will be appreciated that theuser may be presented with more or fewer game mode options 304 to choosefrom.

The selection of a ‘Reserve’ rune modifies the rules to present the userwith an additional game element outside the gameboard which he can swapwith any game element on the gameboard, such that altering the gameboardis the game outcome. The selection of a ‘Timed’ rune modifies the rulesto swap the number of moves the player has to attain the level objectivein for a time the player has to attain the level in, the time beingdisplayed as the game outcome. The selection of a ‘Diagonal’ runemodifies the rules to allow the user to swap game elements situated attile locations which are diagonal to one-another, the allowable diagonalswitch being the game outcome. The selection of a ‘Shuffle’ runemodifies the rules to present the user with a switching button which,when activated, causes the tile locations of at least some of the gameelements on the gameboard to change, the altered arrangement of the gameelements on the gameboard being the game outcome. The selection of an‘Explosive’ rune modifies the rules to eliminate multiple rows orcolumns when a striped candy booster is selected, and at least onecolumn or row respectively, the removal of multiple rows and columnsbeing the game outcome. The selection of a ‘Streak’ rune modifies therules to present the user with a game element removal element when theuser has consecutively matched a predefined number of groups of the sametype of element, the game element removal element removing all elementsof a common type form the gameboard, the removal of these elements beingthe game outcome.

The rune examples of FIG. 7 are described in more detail below.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the ‘Reserve’ game mode option. The goal ofthe level is shown in the goal area 402. In this example, the user mustremove 52 jelly squares from the gameboard 100. Tile 424 can be seen tocontain jelly. The jelly is removed from the gameboard 100 by the userremoving game elements from the gameboard through the generation ofgroups of matching elements at the tile location of the jelly. The jellymay be associated with a certain tile of the gameboard, such that thelocation of the jelly does not change when game elements are removedfrom the gameboard 100 and block refill occurs. As the player removesjellies, the count in the goal area 402 decreases respectively.

A moves counter 404 shows the user how many moves he has remaining totry to complete the level. When the player makes a move, the value ofthe moves counter decreases by one. If the player fails to achieve thegoal(s) as shown in the goal area 402 before the value of the movescounter 404 reaches 0, the player fails the level.

A points bar 400 shows the player how many points he has accumulated sofar in the level. He must reach the points target 302 as shown on thepre-level display 300 in order to pass the level. In some embodiments,the points target 302 corresponds to the goals of the level, such that,if the player achieves the goal(s) he is presented with for the level,he will also achieve the target 302. Any moves he makes which do notcontribute towards the goal(s) may then award him additional points. Inother embodiments, the player may be required to perform significantlymore moves than the moves required to achieve the goal(s) in order toaccumulate enough points to reach the target 302.

If the player fails the level, he loses a life. A lives counter 408shows the number of lives the player has remaining.

In the ‘Reserve’ game mode option, the player is given a reserve element414 which he can replace any gameboard element with. To do this, theplayer selects the reserve element 414 and then selects the element onthe gameboard 100 which he wishes to replace the reserve element 414with. The replaced gameboard element then becomes the reserve element414.

For example, the player may choose to replace pear drop gameboardelement 416 with the reserve element 414. In the example of FIG. 10, thereserve element 414 is a square element, but it will be appreciated thatthe reserve element 414 may be any game element type. If the playerchooses to do so, the pear drop gameboard element 416 becomes thereserve element 414, and the reserve element 414 takes the place of thepear drop gameboard element 416 on the gameboard 100. In this example,the player creates a group of matching adjacent square elements atlocation 418, which are subsequently removed from the gameboard 100. Theplayer may choose to replace a different element with the reserveelement 414. This may not result in a match. However, the player maychoose to do this in order to acquire a different reserve element 414which he can use in a subsequent move to create a group of matchingadjacent elements.

The player does not have to use the reserve element 414. He can makeplays in the usual manner. For example, the player may choose to switchthe bean gameboard element 422 with the gameboard element below it, socreating a group of matching adjacent bean elements at location 420,which are then removed from the gameboard 100.

A pacing mechanic may also be introduced in the ‘Reserve’ game mechanic.This mechanic prevents the user from using the reserve element 414excessively in the level. For example, the pacing mechanic may preventthe user from using the reserve element 414 in consecutive moves.Another example is that any group of matching adjacent elements createdusing the reserve element 414 may have to contain four or more matchingadjacent elements.

There is a booster bar 410 at the bottom of the display. If the user hasboosters which are available to him to be used in the level, they aredisplayed here. For example, the user has accumulated three lollipophammer boosters, as indicted by the number 3 next to the lollipop hammerbooster icon 412.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a ‘Timed’ game mode option. As before, theplayer is presented with goals in the goal are 402, and the points hehas accumulated are shows in the points bar 400. The number ofaccumulated points corresponds to the stars 222. The more points theplayer accumulates in the level, the more stars he is awarded.

In the ‘Timed’ game mode option, the player has to achieve the goal(s)within a pre-defined time, rather than in a pre-defined number of moves.The time the player has remaining is shown by a countdown 502. Theplayer makes matches by switching adjacent game elements to creategroups of matching adjacent elements, which are then removed from thegameboard 100.

The time for which the player has to complete the level is amodification 364 associated with the ‘Timed’ rune identifier 362. Thedefined elements 356 define the number of moves the player has tocomplete the level in. The modification 364 then converts this numberinto a time. That is, levels which give the player more moves to competethe level in will give the player more time if he chooses to play thelevel in the ‘Timed’ mode, such that the number of moves is convertedinto an amount of time.

In addition, the algorithm for determining when the allowable number ofmoves for the level has run out is replaced in the rule modification byan algorithm for determining when the allowable time has run out. Bothof these algorithms determine if the user has failed the level.

In some embodiments, the user may be able to switch between having anumber of moves to perform the level in and having a time to perform thelevel in during gameplay. That is, the user may, for example, start thelevel with 50 moves to complete the level in, and then once he hasperformed 20 moves, he can change the remaining 30 moves to a time inwhich he must complete the rest of the level. This may also be performedthe opposite way around, such that the user changes remaining time toremaining moves.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show an example of a ‘Diagonal’ game mode option.Again, the user removes elements from the gameboard 100 by making groupsof matching adjacent elements. However, in this mechanic, the user mayswitch gameboard elements which are located in tiles which are diagonalto each other. For example, the user can switch the square element 602with the pear element 604. This creates the group of matching adjacentsquare elements 606, which is subsequently removed from the gameboard100.

FIGS. 13A-13C show an example of a ‘Shuffle’ game mode option. A shufflebutton 702 is presented to the user on the game play display 108. If theuser cannot see any moves to make on the gameboard 100, he may choose toselect the shuffle button 702 in order to shuffle the gameboard elementson the gameboard, such that the arrangement of the elements on thegameboard is different.

In FIG. 13A, the user selects the shuffle button 702. The game elementsare then removed from the gameboard 100, as shown in FIG. 13B. It can beseen that the jelly squares 424 have been left at the tile locationsthat they were previously in. In some embodiments, the jelly squares 424may also be shuffled.

The gameboard elements are then placed back on the gameboard 100, but indifferent tile locations, as shown in FIG. 13C. These are the samegameboard elements as were on the gameboard 100 before the user executedthe shuffle mechanic, so the gameboard 100 shown in FIG. 13A. That is,there are the same number of each type of game element on the gameboard100 both before and after the shuffle has been implemented.

Once the gameboard elements have been shuffled, any groups of 3 or moreadjacent matching elements are removed. For example, in FIG. 13C thereis a group of matching adjacent lollipop elements 704. These elementsare then removed from the gameboard 100 without the user having toselect the group 704. The moves counter 404 does not decrease in valuefor the removal of these elements, since the player did not select themfor removal.

Using the shuffle mechanic uses one or more of the user's allowablemoves. In the example of FIGS. 13A-13C, the use of the shuffle button702 uses 3 of the player's allowable moves, as shown by the decrease invalue of the moves counter 404. This deters the user from excessivelyusing the shuffle mechanic in order to create groups of matchingadjacent elements without using any moves.

FIGS. 14A-14E show an example of an ‘Explosive’ game mode option. FIG.14A shows the gameboard 100 when the player has 13 moves remaining. Theaim of this level is to collect acorns 800 at the bottom of thegameboard 100. This is achieved by removing the game elements below theacorn 800 so that it falls downwards towards the bottom of the gameboardduring gameboard refill.

The player switches the lollipop element 804 with the flower element802. This results in the formation of a group of matching adjacentlollipop elements 806 as shown in FIG. 14B. Since there are 4 elementsin the group of matching adjacent lollipop elements 806, a striped candy808 is formed. This is generated at the tile location of the switchedelement, so at the original tile location of the flower element 802.Here, the striped candy 806 has stripes in the horizontal direction. Theelements in the group of matching adjacent lollipop elements 806 areremoved from the gameboard 100.

Striped candies are a type of booster. In a normal switcher mechanic,when activated, the striped candy removes all of the elements in the rowor column in which it is situated. If the stripes on the striped candyare vertical, the column elements are removed, and if the stripes arehorizontal, the row elements are removed. Striped candies may begenerated as described above in a normal switcher mechanic. They mayalso be spawned during gameboard refill.

When the group of matching adjacent lollipop elements 806 is removedfrom the gameboard 100, the striped candy 808 is activated. In the‘Explosive’ game mode option, the effects of the striped candy 808 areextended to the rows and columns either side of the row and column inwhich the striped candy 808 is situated. Thus, all of the elements inthe row the striped candy 808 is in, and the row above and below thatrow are removed. This is shown in FIG. 14C, in which all of the gameelements in area 810 are removed.

A second striped candy 812 is generated at the tile location of thefirst striped candy 808, as shown in FIG. 14D. This second striped candy812 has stripes perpendicular to those of the first striped candy 808.

The second striped candy 812 is activated when it is generated. Thisresults in all of the elements in the column in which the striped candyis in, as well as all of the elements in the column to the left andright of the column being removed from the gameboard 100, that is, allelements in area 814 are removed, FIG. 14E.

The gameboard 100 may only be refilled after both the first stripedcandy 808 and the second striped candy 812 have been activated and theelements removed from the gameboard. Alternatively, there may be agameboard refill between the first striped candy 808 and the secondstriped candy 812 being activated. The second striped candy 812 remainsat the tile location of the first striped candy 808.

FIG. 15A-15E show an example of a ‘Streak’ game mode option. In thisgame mode option, the user makes consecutive matches of the same type ofelements in order to acquire a streak booster.

FIG. 15A shows the gameboard 100 at the start of the level. There is apower bar 1502 at the bottom of the display. The power bar 1502 is shownto be empty at the beginning of the level. The user makes a first moveof switching the green square element 1504 with the lollipop element inthe tile location to the left of it, in order to create a group ofmatching green square elements in tile locations in area 1506. Thesetiles are removed from the gameboard 100 and gameboard refill occurs.

FIG. 15B shows the gameplay display after the gameboard refill has beencompleted. One quarter of the power bar 1502 has been filled in green,corresponding to the colour of the removed group of matching squareelements. Each time the user makes a consecutive match of the same typeof element, the power bar 1502 fills up by a further quarter. It will beappreciated that the power bar 1502 may be split into any number ofportions. The power bar may not necessarily visually show the portionsinto which it is split.

If the next match the user makes is not of a group of square elements,the power bar 1502 will be emptied (reset to zero). It may then befilled to one quarter with the colour corresponding to the just-matchedgroup of elements. In some embodiments, if the power bar 1502 is filledby more than one quarter when a different element type match is made,the power bar 1502 may not completely empty, but only one quarter of thefilled portion of the power bar 1502 will be emptied. In otherembodiments, the power bar 1502 does not empty when the type ofconsecutively matched elements changes. For example, if the power bar1502 is half full when the user makes a match with a different type ofelement, the power bar may remain half full until the user makes anotherconsecutive match of any type of element, which results in the power bar1502 filling by another increment.

Once the user has completed four consecutive matches of the same type ofelement, the power bar 1502 is full, as shown in FIG. 15C. The power bar1502 can then be selected by the user, and he is shown a streak display1506 as shown in FIG. 15D. The user then selects any element on thegameboard 100. For example, the user selects flower element 1508. Thisactivates the power bar 1502 which removes all flower elements presenton the gameboard 100 at the time of selection from the gameboard 100.That is, the user can decide which type of element he wants to eliminateform the gameboard 100.

The flower elements are removed from the gameboard 100 and thengameboard refill occurs. The power bar 1502 is emptied, as shown in FIG.15E. In this example, the use of the full power bar 1502 has not used upany player moves, however, in some embodiments, the use of the fullpower bar 1502 may use one or more moves the player is allowed for thelevel.

In some embodiments, when the power bar 1502 is full, the user may bepresented with an additional booster which he can use. The user may beable to choose the placement location of the booster on the gameboard,or it may be placed randomly at a tile location on the gameboard. Insome embodiments, the booster may only be placed at a tile locationwhich does not currently contain a booster. It may also be preventedfrom being placed at the location of a blocker element, or any otherkind of special element. For example, in some embodiments, the boostermay only be placed at a tile location which is currently occupied by acandy. The user may be presented with the additional booster instead ofor as well as activating the power bar to remove all of one type ofelement from the gameboard 100.

The final game mode option displayed to the user on the pre-level screen300 shown in FIG. 7 is the ‘Regular’ game mode option. This game modeoption does not alter the rules of the level.

In the example pre-level screen of FIG. 7, the ‘Regular’ game modeoption is shown to be visually similar to the options for the runeswhich result in rule modifications. In some embodiments, the ‘regular’or ‘normal’ game play button may be visually different from the userselectable elements associated with the rule modifying runes. Forexample, the ‘normal play’ button may be larger than the rune buttons,it may be a different shape and/or it may have a different symbolassociated with it such that it is easily distinguishable from the userselectable buttons for the rune rule modifications.

In some embodiments, the visually distinguishable button described abovemay be used to indicate the user's desire to continue playing in theselected game mode option. For example, if the user is not required toselect the game mode option in which he wishes to play the level beforeevery level, such that the game mode option remains selected when a userfinishes a level attempt and the same rule modifications are applied tothe next level the user attempts, the user may select thedistinguishable play button to continue on to the next level and playthe level with the previously selected game mode option.

Once the user has completed a level by achieving the goals associatedwith the level, he may proceed to play the next level in the sequence.Alternatively, he may choose to replay the level which he has justcompleted, or any other level he has completed in the past. He maychoose to replay a level using a different rune, so applying differentrule modifications to the level rules. In some embodiments, the user mayreceive a reward for completing a single level in a predefined number ofdifferent game mode options. The user may receive more significant orvaluable rewards for completing the level in a larger number ofdifferent game mode options.

The method described above may be implemented in games with alternativegame mechanics. For example, Blossom Blast Saga has a linker gamemechanic. In this game, the game elements are visually represented asflowers. The user aims to remove flowers from the gameboard by linkinggroups of 3 or more matching flowers. The user can select the flowers tolink by, for example, dragging his finger over the flowers and thenreleasing his finger to select the linked flower. Alternatively, theuser may click on the flowers he wishes to link and then actively selecta completion button to trigger his selection. When the selection of thelinked flowers has been triggered, the game logic checks to see if theselected flowers are involved in a match condition. That is, the gamelogic accesses a tile database storing tile data and checks the tilecharacteristics of the user selected linked tiles=. If the tilecharacteristics of the user linked tiles match, the game elements in thelinked group are removed from the gameboard. When flowers are removedfrom the gameboard, the gameboard is refilled as described above. Thelevels of the game are presented to the user according to an orderdefined by the game. Levels are completed when a user achievespre-defined goals associated with that level.

In Blossom Blast Saga, the user is presented with a card selectionscreen 1600, as shown in FIG. 16, when he selects a level to play. Theuser has a card deck 1602 containing three card slots. It will beappreciated that there may be more or fewer card slots in the card deck1602. The card slots are filled with RightOps cards. The user may selectwhich RightOps cards appear in the card deck 1602. The user may, forexample, select which cards appear in his card deck 1602 via a mainmenu, such that the card deck 1602 is constant for all levels the userplays. Alternatively, the user may select the cards for his card deck1602 in a pre-level screen. In this embodiment, the selected cards mayremain constant for all levels even when the user plays a differentlevel, or the cards may be specific to the level the user is about toplay. An example card deck selection screen is shown in FIG. 17. Theuser may select a slot 1802 corresponding to one of the slots in hiscard deck 1602. He then selects one of the RightOps from the availableRightOps list 1804 to fill the selected slot 1802 in his card deck 1602.He may have the option to change the cards in his card deck 1602. Theremay be a limit to the number of card changes he is allowed in a giventime period. For example, the user may be allowed to switch one card inhis deck 1602 for a different card every 24 hours.

He may be able to make additional card switches by exchanging somethingin return for the card switch, for example, he may use gold bars whichhe has collected through game play to make an additional switch in thegiven time period. In an alternative embodiment, the cards in the carddeck 1602 are not selected by the user, but instead selectedautomatically. This automatic selection may, for example, be a randomselection, the cards may be selected in some pre-defined order, or thecards may be grouped into types of RightOps cards and cards are selectedbased on their type. The cards may be selected by the game logic.

The RightOps which are available to the user for placing in his carddeck 1602, whether to be chosen by the user or selected by the gamelogic, may be stored in a reserve card deck. The available RightOps list1804 is an example of a user accessible reserve card deck. Theseavailable RightOps cards may be queued in a pre-defined order, such thatwhen a RightOps card which the user holds in his deck 1602 is complete,it is replaced with the next RightOps card in the queue. Alternatively,the user may be able to select the next card to occupy his card deck1502 from the reserve card deck upon completion of a card. Thecompletion of cards is described below.

The RightOps cards are each associated with different game rulemodifications, in a similar manner to the runes described above. Thesecards and associated rule modifications may be stored in a mode database306, and applied to the game level as described above with reference toFIGS. 7 and 8. In some embodiments, each card is associated with both apositive and a negative modification. For example, the rule modificationassociated with the card may increase the area of the gameboard affectedby a booster, but also decrease the time in which the user has tocomplete the game level. Another example of the rule modificationsassociated with a RightOps card may be to reduce the number of elementsrequired in a match to generate a booster, but also to reduce the numberof moves the player is allowed to make in order to successfully completethe level.

The user selects one of the RightOps cards from his card deck 1602 toimplement in the selected game level. The selected card may be indicatedin some way. For example, the selected card may be enlarged in the carddeck 1602, there may be a coloured border shown around the card, theselected card may be highlighted while the other cards in the deck 1602are dimmed, or the selected card may be removed from the card deck 1602and shown as an enlarged card 1604 above the card deck 1602 as shown inFIG. 18. The enlarged card 1604 may comprise one or more of the name ofthe card, an icon associated with the selected RightOps card, aprogression bar indicating the user's progression through any goalsassociated with the card, and a description of the effect of theselected card. The information associated with the selected RightOpscard may be presented to the user on the display, or the user may beable to access the information by selecting an information icon button.Allowing the user to see a description of the effects of the selectedcard prior to confirming his selection allows him to more strategicallychoose which RightOps card modifications to implement in the level. Oncethe user is happy with his RightOps card selection, he selects the playbutton 1606 to confirm his selection and proceeds to the gameplaydisplay.

In some embodiments, after the user selects the play button 1606 he istaken to a card description display 1900, as shown in FIG. 19. Here, theuser may be presented with information regarding the selected card. Forexample, the name 1902 of the card and the icon 1904 associated with thecard are displayed. A description of the effects 1906 of the card isalso displayed to the user. In some embodiments, RightOps cards areassociated with goals which the user must achieve in order to completethe RightOps card. The goals associated with the card may be displayedto the user on the card description display 1900, although not shown inFIG. 19. A RightOps goal progression bar 1910 indicates the user'sprogression towards completing the goals. The reward the user wouldreceive if he achieves the goal, which is also not shown in FIG. 19, mayalso be displayed on the card description display 1900. A timer 1912 maybe displayed, indicating the remaining time for the user to complete thegoals associated with the selected RightOps card or the time remaininguntil the RightOps card expires. If the user decides to play the levelusing the selected RightOps card, he can confirm his selection andproceed to the gameplay display by selecting the play button 1914. Hemay choose to return to the card selection display to select analternative RightOps card to use to play the level by selecting the exitbutton 1906.

In some embodiments, the user may be able to select more than oneRightOps card to implement in a single level. The user may be able toplay the level without implementing a RightOps card, such that the levelrules remain unmodified.

In some embodiments, some RightOps cards may be limited to use incertain levels. For example, the user may not be able to use one or moreof the cards in his deck 1602 when playing the selected level.

The player may be presented with tutorial information when he starts thelevel. Tutorial information may be available to the user at any time,for example by clicking on an icon indicating the RightOps card in playduring gameplay.

If the user completes a level using a RightOps card, he may be awardedadditional rewards. For example, the user may be awarded additionalboosters, new RightOps, or an amount of a currency such as gold bars.

Upon completion of a level, the user may be presented with the optionsof replaying the level, continuing to the next level, or playing aprevious level. The cards in the user's card deck 1602 may remainconstant or they may be changed, either by the user or automatically.The selected card 1604 may also stay selected, or the user may berequired to select a card to implement before playing the next level hewishes to play.

If the user fails to complete the level, he may have the option to retrythe level using the same RightOps card. Alternatively, he may choose tochange the RightOps card he is using. A different RightOps card maymodify the rules of the level such that it is easier for the player tocomplete the level. The player may also choose to change levels. In someembodiments, if the user chooses to change the RightOps card in play, hemay lose any progression he has made in that card.

In some embodiments, the RightOps cards are associated with goals. Thesegoals may be additional to the goals associated with the level the useris playing. The user may be required to complete the goals associatedwith the RightOps card as well as the goals associated with the level inorder to complete the level. Alternatively, the user may only need tocomplete the goals associated with the level to complete the level, andthe completion of the goals associated with the RightOps card is anadditional goal which may be rewarded separately if completed. The usermay be able to complete the goals associated with the RightOps card overmore than one level. He may, for example, have a predefined time periodin which to achieve the goals and complete the RightOps card, or he mayhave to achieve the goals of the RightOps card within a predefinednumber of level attempts or completed levels.

In other embodiments, RightOps cards are not associated with goals forthe user to achieve. RightOps cards may become complete when the userhas used the card for a predefined number of level attempts or completedlevels, or the card has been in his card deck 1602 for a predefinedperiod of time. In some embodiments, RightOps card may only be used oncebefore they are removed from the user's card deck 1602.

Once a RightOps card has been completed, it may be removed from theuser's card deck 1602. It may also be removed from the user's reservecard deck. Alternatively, it may be placed back into the reserve carddeck for placement in the user's card deck 1602 at another time. TheRightOps cards stored in the user's reserve card deck may be able to beused or completed a predefined number of times before they are removedfrom the reserve card deck.

FIG. 20 shows an example of a post-level screen 1700 displayed to theuser when he completes a level. Below the RightOps indicator 1704, thereis a progression bar 1702. This indicates the user's progress towardscompleting the RightOps, such that the bar becomes fuller as the usercollects more points or completes more required objectives contributingto his completion of the RightOps goal. If the user chooses to replace aRightOps card in his card deck 1602 which he has been using, he may losethe progression he has made towards the goals associated with theRightOps card. The user may, in some embodiments, lose the progressionhe has made on a card if he loses all of his lives. Lives may be lost ifthe user fails to complete the goals in the pre-defined time or if hequits a level without completing it. The user may proceed to the nextlevel using the same selected card by selecting the next button 1706.Alternatively, he may choose to change the selected card by selectingthe exit button 1708 which takes him to the card selection display 1600.

The user may unlock additional RightOps cards through gameplay. Forexample, if he achieves pre-defined goals, he may be awarded one or moreRightOps cards. Alternatively or additionally, the player may unlockRightOps cards based on his ranking. For example, if he is ranked topout of the friends he has connected with via social media, or in a toppre-defined percentile of all players, additional RightOps cards may beunlocked. The additional RightOps cards unlocked by the user may bestored in the reserve card deck.

FIG. 21 shows a schematic representation of the functional blocks of anembodiment of the present invention used to enable game play, such asthat discussed above. Input detection 2502 captures the user input andfeeds the input to the game logic 2504. The user input can be providedvia any suitable user input device, such as those described above. Inthe context of the game, this user input can be used in a game view toindicate which game objects have been selected by a user, and thus toindicate the blocks to be switched and checked for adjacent matchingblocks. The game logic 2504 will process the information provided by theuser input. The game logic 2504 may then determine if a valid selectionhas been made, and what the outcomes of the selection should be.

The user input is also detected in the Saga Map 200 display and thepre-level display 300. Here, the user selects level 352 which he wishesto play and the game mode option 304 he wishes to play the level inrespectively. These selections determine the grid 80 and the rulesimplemented by a rules module 2514. The rules implemented by the rulesmodule 2514 are modified using the mode data 312 retrieved from the modedatabase 360.

The rendering block is used to render the gameboard 100 to the user. Italso renders the Saga Map 200 and the pre-level display 300 on thedisplay of the client device 240.

The grid component 80 stored in a memory provides a grid representationof the game board as shown schematically in FIG. 21. The grid componentcan be supplied by any suitable data structure, held in a local memoryor remote memory accessible by the device, and is responsible foridentifying each tile location on the game board and thus providing atile ID with which to associate information about the game elementdisplayed at that tile location. This associated information may then beused in combination with other components in order to control therendering of the display, e.g. a match detector component 2510, and arefill mechanism component 2506.

Each game element has object data associated therewith. The object datamay be stored in any suitable memory location. In some embodiments, theobject data may be provided by a data structure. In some embodiments,the object data may be considered to be part of the game logic and inother embodiments may be considered to be outside the game logic. Theobject data may provide information as to the properties of a gameelement or block. These properties can include attribute informationsuch as colour and/or whether or not a game element has a particularfunction such as a booster function.

The game logic 2504 will determine the blocks selected by a user, andthe actions to follow to implement the game mechanic.

Thus, the game logic controls the rules for determining if a valid grouphas been selected. The game logic 2504 operates according to the set ofrules of the level the user is playing when he is playing in the‘Regular’ game mode option, or the set of modified rules for the levelassociated with the user elected rune. The game logic will have accessto data for each tile including its tile ID designating its location onthe grid 80, and associated tile data providing information about thecontents of that tile, e.g. the game element within that tile or atleast one characteristic associated with the game element within thetile. The game logic 2504 will thus be able to determine the gameelements to be removed from those respective tiles for each userselection. The grid can be considered as a map which may be used todetermining the relative positions of tiles on the game board from thetile ID. In embodiments of the present invention, the grid 80 isimplemented as a two-dimensional grid. By splitting the grid 80 into rowor column sets of tiles, each with their own deterministic game elementgenerating algorithm, the game board may be simplified to a set ofone-dimensional sub-grids. The grid 80 is shown with two dimensions, xand y. However, any alpha numerical designation can be used as the tileID. No logical relationship between tile IDs is required. However, thegrid position relationship between tile IDs may be determinable from thetile ID alone, e.g. by using an array of tiles with numbered rows andlettered columns. The position of a game element may be either where thegame element is or where the game element is going (e.g. the endpoint ofa game element moving due to a refill).

Once a group of matching adjacent blocks has been successfully created,these blocks may be removed, and the respective tiles will become empty.At this stage, a refill of the empty tiles is required based on therefill mechanism 2506. The refill mechanism 2506 may also haveconditions on which it relies. For example, other moves or actionstaking place on the gameboard may have to be completed before the refillmechanism can take place.

Each tile of the grid 80 may be associated with data to indicate astatus, such as filled or unfilled (empty). Thus, when the game board isrefilled, each tile of the grid may be checked for such a status. Upondetermining that there are tiles which are empty, the need to refillthese tiles is recognised. Boolean logic may be used to determinewhether a tile is to be refilled using the filled status of the tiles ofthe grid. The tiles must satisfy the condition of being unfilled inorder to be refilled. As part of the refill mechanism, empty tiles aredesignated as the endpoint for particular blocks. This may be as theendpoint of a block which is already in the game board and moving as aresult of a game move due to the action of the physics engine 2508, oras the endpoint of a new block entering the game board. The physicsengine component 2508 is configured to control the movement of movinggame elements in the display. The physics engine 2508 may be part of thegame logic 2504.

A filled tile will be treated by the game logic as a solid entity,preventing any other game objects from passing through this particulartile. By filled tile it is meant that the tile is occupied by a gameelement, e.g. a block, a booster etc. In this way, the game logic mayalso force the refill mechanism to conform to certain refilltrajectories or paths. That is to say new or moving game elements willnot be able to pass through or refill through filled tiles. It should beappreciated that the terms pass through and refill through are dependenton the specific game rules, e.g. some game boards may refill from adirection perpendicular to the plane of the game board.

It will be appreciated that, whilst specific embodiments of theinvention have been described, these are not exhaustive. The scope ofthe invention is not defined by the described embodiment but only by theappendant claims.

1. A computer device having: a user interface configured to present to a user a selected one of a plurality of game levels, each game level comprising a plurality of tiles in a tile layout, each tile having a game attribute defined by the game level, and at least some of the tiles having displayed thereon user actuatable game elements with which the user can interact, the user interface being configured to detect user input when a user engages with at least one of said user actuatable game elements; wherein each of the plurality of game levels is associated with a set of rules which control the display of game outcomes on the user interface; and a processor configured to present to a user on the user interface prior to the selected game level a pre-level screen which comprises a plurality of selectable objects; detect selection of one of the selectable objects; access a set of rule modifications associated with the selected object for modifying the set of rules associated with that game level, without modifying the layout of tiles or game attributes of the tiles; and present the game level to the user for interaction according to the modified set of rules.
 2. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the user actuatable game elements have different characteristics, and, when a match game condition is detected, matching game elements are removed and replaced by a random refill procedure.
 3. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the set of rules defines a number of game moves within which a game objective for the level is to be attained to be displayed as a game outcome.
 4. A computer device according to claim 3, wherein the set of rule modifications defines a period of time, corresponding to the number of game moves, within which the objective is to be attained to be displayed as the game outcome.
 5. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the set of rule modifications provides a swap object, which when activated swaps the moves remaining for time remaining whilst in a game play display.
 6. A computer device according to claim 2, wherein the set of rules presents to the user a power bar which displays as a game outcome a charge level based on consecutive matches.
 7. A computer device according to claim 6, wherein the set of rule modifications causes the power bar to be charged only with consecutive matches of the same type, the power bar becoming full after a predefined number of consecutive matches of the same type.
 8. A computer device according to claim 7, wherein when the power bar is full it is rendered as selectable by a user, and when selected, any game elements of a common type are removed from the game board.
 9. A computer device according to claim 7, wherein the power bar is emptied after reaching a charge level after one or more matches of the same type prior to reaching said predefined number if a next match is of a different type of game elements.
 10. A computer device according to claim 2, wherein the set of rule modifications causes a reserve user actuatable game element to be displayed to a user, said reserve game element being located outside the layout of tiles, wherein the user can select one of the user actuatable game elements on the layout and swap said selected user actuatable game element with the reserve game element to provide as a game outcome an altered gameboard.
 11. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the game level presented to the user according to the set of modified rules presents a user selectable shuffle option which rearranges the positions of the at least some user actuatable game elements on the layout to provide an altered game element arrangement as a game outcome.
 12. A computer device according to claim 11, configured to enable the shuffle option for selection only every n game moves, wherein the set of rules defines a number of game moves within which an objective is to be attained.
 13. A computer device according to claim 2, wherein the layout is an m by n array of rows and columns and the set of rules controls the operation of a special user actuatable game element, such that when the special game element is part of a match game condition, a game outcome is such that a row or column of game elements is removed from the board.
 14. A computer device according to claim 13, wherein the set of rule modifications controls operation of the special user actuatable game element, such that, when the special user actuatable game element is part of a match game condition, it causes multiple rows or columns to be removed, and at least one column or row respectively.
 15. A computer device according to claim 2, wherein the layout is an m by n array, and game elements are switchable in their row or column, a match game condition being detected when adjacent game elements arranged in rows or columns are of the same type.
 16. A computer device according to claim 15, wherein the set of rule modifications enables diagonal switching of game elements of the gameboard.
 17. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the layout is an n by m array.
 18. A computer device according to claim 17, wherein m=n.
 19. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the game attributes of the tiles comprise user actuatable game elements, blockers, and pre-designated special game elements.
 20. A computer device according to claim 1, wherein the set of rules define at least one of: a switcher mechanic; clicker mechanic; and a linker mechanic.
 21. A method comprising: presenting to a user a selected one of a plurality of game levels, each game level comprising a plurality of tiles in a tile layout, each tile having a game attribute defined by the game level, and at least some of the tiles having displayed thereon user actuatable game elements with which the user can interact, wherein each of the plurality of game levels is associated with a set of rules which control the display of game outcomes; presenting to the user, prior to the selected game level, a pre-level screen which comprises a plurality of selectable objects; detecting selection of one of the selectable objects; accessing a set of rule modifications associated with the selected object for modifying the set of rules associated with that game level, without modifying the layout of tiles or game attributes of the tiles; and presenting the game level to the user for interaction according to the modified set of rules.
 22. A computer program product comprising computer-executable code embodied on a computer-readable storage medium configured so as when executed by one or more processing units to perform the method according to claim
 21. 